How involved is Mark Burnett Productions in getting sponsorships here?
Cru: We retain control of who sponsors it. People often say in the contract negotiation, “We’re not going to let you approve our sponsor”, then we’ll say “Then you won’t get the show.” As much as I like Jim Beam, I don’t want it sponsoring a show that is mainly built around fifth graders. The Contender for example is a great place for an advertiser of a sports drink or beer or muscle supplements. It’s a great natural tie-in and the mistake that has been made is people try to tie-in things that aren’t appropriate for that particular show. How are these sponsorships structured? Mehta: One of the key things is we’re looking for integration – providing a lot more value to the sponsors in terms of exposure to the target audience. Our aim is to actually get them exposure in a subtle manner that gets the message across to the consumer without it being too ‘in your face’. Cru: It is important to point out we wouldn’t turn down placement money. [Laughter] You can come out of a scene with somebo
